try something new: cauliflower crust pizza.

we eat a lot of pizza in our house. it’s quick. it’s tasty. it allows us to use up random ingredients in the fridge.

up until tonight, we always used the pre-made dough from whole foods for our pizzas. well, aside from that time in 2008 that i made meatza–pizza with a crust made out of meat. anyway, tonight i tried something new: cauliflower pizza crust.

i learned about cauliflower pizza crust during my low carb craze of 2008, but i have no idea why i never made it. i have seen it all over the internet over the years, but it still never piqued my interest enough to make it. well, my two co-workers (and livefit buddies!), amanda and kerryne (YES it’s the same kerryne from blog land–that’s why we hired her!) have been eating this cauliflower crust pizza like crazy. they’ve been raving about it, so i decided it was high time i gave it a shot!

i have seen several different recipes around the interwebs, but my recipe was adapted from a combo of only two of the many.

once cauliflower has cooled to almost room temperature, combine it in a bowl with the remaining ingredients (aside from the toppings, of course.)

spray a nonstick baking sheet or line with a silicone mat. (if you don’t own a silicone mat, you really need to get with it and buy one. they are the BEST.) spread mixture evenly on the pan so it forms a 9″ x 16″ rectangle.. give or take.

bake for 12-15 minutes until edges are slightly browned.

layer sauce and toppings on baked crust.

place pizza back in oven until all the cheese is melted (if using cheese) and toppings are warmed through; about five minutes.

slice & eat immediately. enjoy!

step by step photo tutorial

preheat oven to 450 degrees.

grate raw cauliflower using a food processor or by hand with a grater. i am lazy and so i used my food processor–i pulsed until it reached a finely grated consistency.

microwave cauliflower for eight minutes and then let cool. it won’t look much different coming out of the microwave as it did going in!

while cauliflower is cooling, prep your toppings of choice.

we chose marinara sauce.. i bought this brand because the lady on the label gave me the “buy me!” eyes.

our protein of choice was italian chicken sausages by archer farms. this was the first time i’d tried these and they were great!

we doubled up on the cheeses: mozzarella and feta.

for the toppings, marshall picked orange and yellow bell peppers and.. wait for it.. mushrooms! HE said mushrooms. i am praising the heavens right now. i sautéed the veggies in a bit of white balsamic vinegar.

i also added some dried basil, salt, and pepper. i cooked them just barely so they were still slightly crisp. random shout out: that cute wooden spoon was a gift from eden!

once cauliflower has cooled to almost room temperature, combine it in a bowl with the remaining ingredients (aside from the toppings, of course.)

this is a KEY ingredient.. everything tastes better with ranch. and you already dip your pizza crust in ranch, right? why not put ranch IN your pizza crust. duh.

side note: “dip pity-do-dah–the dip that does it all”?! I LOVE THAT SLOGAN and just noticed it for the first time ever.. and have been using this stuff for years.

to measure my spices, i used these cute owl measuring spoons that were a gift from katie. mannn, blog friends rule.

spray a nonstick baking sheet or line with a silicone mat. (if you don’t own a silicone mat, you really need to get with it and buy one. they are the BEST.) spread mixture evenly on the pan so it forms a 9″ x 16″ rectangle.. give or take.

here is a photo to give you an idea of how thick it should be.

bake for 12-15 minutes until edges are slightly browned.

layer sauce and toppings on baked crust.

place pizza back in oven until all the cheese is melted (if using cheese) and toppings are warmed through; about five minutes.

melty goodness achieved!

slice & eat immediately. enjoy!

i ended up eating this and then going back for two more slices. it’s a good thing penny and randy don’t get pizza for dinner, because marshall and i gobbled the whole thing up.

my thoughts on the crust: this was DELICIOUS. it didn’t hold together as much as i’d expected (like normal pizza) but eating it with a fork wasn’t an issue. i have thumbs and have been using a fork for decades, so that worked out well. the bottom of the crust browned nicely, but the top wasn’t quite as crisp.

it didn’t matter, it tasted amazing. i am really glad i saw that stef added nutritional yeast to hers (which is why i added it to mine), because that lent a cheesy, nutty flavor to the crust that i really enjoyed.

clearly.

can’t wait to make this again! thanks for pushing me into it, amanda.

Qs~

what nontraditional recipes have you tried? did you love or loathe the results?i have made cauliflower mashed “potatoes” and liked them (i did half potatoes, half cauliflower) and the meatza pizza that i mentioned at the beginning of this post. i want to try egg white ice cream, but kerryne had a couple flops with that one so i am hesitant!

xo. janetha g.

p.s. could you all do me a solid and take this 30 second sugar survey for my friends at the simply bar?? just tell them i sent ya. thanks!

I’ve heard about cauliflower pizza crusts but I’ve never come across a recipe for one. I’m so excited to make it now! Except with those nutritional stats, I think I’m going to be tempted to eat the entire pizza. ;)

That’s the coolest idea ever! I must try it. The weirdest food experiments I like to try involve beans and pumpkin…turned blondies/brownies. Yes it’s true. I make white bean blondies, white bean coffee cake, and pumpkin brownies. I use peanut flour (no wheat flower at all) and applesauce instead of eggs. It’s amazing what you can come up with using ingredients that don’t make sense…haha!

when I first saw thing I thought about how good it would be with eggs on it and baked? then it could be a savory delicious breakfast…or lunch or dinner just eggs on that seems to go well in my mind! YUM!

I made this last night! I have to admit that I’m addicted to Amy’s and Kashi frozen pizzas, so I tried this as a healthier substitute. I omitted the nutritional yeast but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I must have picked up a smaller head of cauliflower because my pizza was substantially smaller, but I thought it was pretty good! Lots of flavor from the ranch! I would suggest using more tomato sauce than you would on a traditional homemade pizza–mine ended up kind of dry. Thanks for the recipe, Janetha!

This is literally the best thing ever. I used parmessan as the cheese and probably only 1 oz. I also used a smaller head of cauliflower, so my crust didn’t go as far, but it was seriously AH MAAAA ZINGG. Thanks so much!

I made this last night and it was really good! I don’t know if I just used a really small cauliflower, but I definitely didn’t have enough “dough” to make a 9×16 crust, I think I will use the whole cauliflower next time. I would love to make it again and this time use nutritional yeast, but I’m not sure where to find it. Any suggestions where I could buy it (I live in SLC)? Thanks for the recipe!

So glad you tried it and liked it! My cauliflower made about two cups raw… but the nutritional yeast maybe bulked it up a bit. You can buy it at Sunflower Market, Whole Foods, and sometimes in the bulk bins at Smith’s Marketplace.. oh and at Harmon’s!

Those are the cutest measuring spoons EVER. & I have made the cauliflower crust- it’s so good. I actually fooled Craig. He knew something was up because I was being so secretive in the kitchen, but he loved it. This reminded me to make it again. Maybe for tomorrow night’s meal.

My boyfriend and I made this on Saturday night and loved it!! We topped it with mushrooms, tomatoes, soy cheese, and spicy chicken sausage. Ours turned out more like a casserole, but it was still so yummy and there were NO leftovers!!

I’ve tried a zucchini/cauliflower crust before and didn’t add cheese either. I found that the egg was enough of a binder and you can add coconut oil as well. Mine was too thin though so I’d have to play around with it. Adding almond meal flour also thickened it up and increased protein content so that’s an idea…

Saw this when you first posted it, it looked delicious.
Bought a head of cauliflower at the store yesterday.
Saw this again when Mama Pea made it, it looked delicious.
Looks like I am going to have a delicious dinner tonight :)

Well I left it out cause I wasn’t sure. I think I spread it a bit thin cause it broke when I went to eat it last night but today when it was cold it was much easier to handle. Best of all? All 5 of my kids ate it lol they never even guessed what was in it lol. I’m going to make more tomorrow :) thanks

We made this tonite, but I used all the topping recipe for your buffalo chicken pizza. We loved it! However we had 4 cups of grated cauliflower and ours did not come close to filling up a 13 x 9 sheet and was not as thick as yours.. Any suggestion?

I’ve made the cauliflower pizza crust before, just a lil different than your recipe.
I steamed my cauliflower in a big pot. I acutally use my spaghetti noodle pot vs the microwave, but I think I will try the microwave method. After the cauliflower has steamed for about 10 minutes, I let it cool in a dish towel, and then I squeeze all the water out of it.
I think this makes for a crispier crust having all the water drained out. Also, when I’m baking it, halfway through I flip the crust and let the other side brown, this also helps for a crispier crust.
Just a few things I’ve learned along the way. It’s definitely a labor of love, but soo worth it when your done. I usually make severaly batches of this and cut up into bite size pieces like a cracker, and store in a zip bag. Yummy!

Hi Alvaro! Thanks for the comment. It is a little soft–you could try to press out the water from the cauliflower with a paper towel or cheesecloth prior to making the crust in order to crisp it up a bit. Also, the thinner you make it, the crispier it will get :)